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MINUTES.

THE FOURTH MEETING of the Committee was held at the Colonial Office on Monday, 30th November, 1914, at 3.15 p.m.

The following members were present:--

1

VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. J. W. SLADE, K.C.I.E., K.C.V.O. (Chairman).

MR. W. J. EVANS, Admiralty.

MR. G. L. BARSTOW, C.B., Treasury.

MR. G. ROPER, Board of Trade.

MR. H. W. MALKIN, Foreign Office.

MR. L. D. WAKELY, India Office.

MR. C. B. TENNYSON, Colonial Office.

MR. T. H. HOLT, Crown Agents.

MR. R. A. WISEMAN (Secretary).

It was decided that a notice of the appointment of the Committee should be sent to the Press.

2. The Chairman stated that in the ordinary course he proposed to obtain competitive tenders for ships other than ships held up with their cargoes.

Autan some discussion it was decided that it would be necessary to employ shipping brokers to deal with the applications that might be received. It was left to Mr. Holt to discuss with Messrs. Turnbull, Gibson, and Company (India Office brokers) and Messrs. Hogg and Robinson (Admiralty and War Office brokers) on what terms those firms would be willing to place their services. at the disposal of the Committee. Mr. Holt also undertook to consider the position of the Shipping Office of the Crown Agents in the matter.,

3. A letter from the Treasury authorising the employment of Messrs. Waltons as solicitors was read to the Committee. It was decided that the substance of the letter should be communicated to Waltons and Company, and that, Sir Henry Johnson, hould be asked to attend the subsequent meeting of the Committee.

4. Mr. Maitland Kersey, Manager in Chief of the Ocean Services of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company,, was interviewed by the Committee with reference to an application which it was thought the Canadian Pacific Railyay Company wished to make for chartering certain ships. The report of the inter- view will be found in the volume of Minutes of Evidence (Miscellaneous No. 318). Mr, C. H. Ross, Director of Matheson and Company Limited, was interviewed with reference to the terms on which his Company would be willing to take oven the 3.5. Frisia," Hong Kong. A report of this interview will also be found in the volume of Minutes of Evidence.

5. Mr. Wakely asked whether the Committee thought that ships requisi- tioned by the Government of India and employed in trade, should be insured, The Committee recommended that the insurance should be affected provided that the oost fell upon the cargo owners. If a policy of insurance were not actually taken out the cost of insurance should, nevertheless, be regarded as a charge to be made in reckoning the freight which would have to be paid by cargo owners,

44 6. The case of the s.8. Australia," detained at Ceylon, was mentioned, but no decision was reached in regard to her.

7: The Committee recommended that telegrams should be sent asking for par- ticulars of all ships detained in oversea ports which were likely to be available for sale or charter by the Admiralty and of sufficient size to enable them to be profitably employed in commerce.

8.

8.3. "Schneefels."—Mr. Tennyson pointed out that the arrangements for the disposal of this ship had now reached an advanced stage, but there was still one point remaining for consideration. It had not hitherto been possible to make any arrangement to safeguard the interest of the prize fund in the event of there being any enemy cargo on board this ship. The proportion of unclaimed cargo on, the "Schneefels" was very considerable, owing to the failure of neutral (or, British) claimants to make good their claims to the cargo, and he thought that out of cargo valued at about £250,000 there was still more than £110,000 worth in respect of which claims had not been substantiated. Mr. Tennyson added that claimants had been warned six or eight weeks ago to claim their cargo, and it was not the fault of the Government that they had not done so.

MINUTES.

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9. 8.8. Fürth."-It was pointed out that this ship was now available and that it might be possible to make use of her to meet the request of the Government of the Union of South Africa for shipping for commercial purposes. (See below, paragraph 10.) It was suggested that the Admiralty should give instructions to the Commander in Chief at Sheerness for the temporary charge of the ship, and it was thought desirable that a telegram should be sent to the Governor of Ceylon in order to make sure that no order had been made by the Prize Court at Colombo which would prevent her from being re-chartered or sold by the Admiralty. Mr. Holt promised to make inquiries as to whether the firm who were acting as agents for the Ceylon Government in the matter would be willing to take over the ship from the Admiralty for this purpose.

10. A telegram from the Union Government with reference to the shortage of shipping in South Africa was considered by the Committee. It was decided to recommend that a full reply should be sent to that Government explaining the position in regard to the "Hamm," "Apolda," and "Birkenfels," and mentioning the possibility of a further ship being placed at the disposal of the Govertimenit.

11. A telegram received from the Minister of External Affairs in Australia, through the High Commissioner for Australia, relative to the action of the Prize Court at Cape Town, was considered. It was decided to recommend that a tele- gram should be sent to the Australian Government, explaining that the action of the Cape Town Prize Court in requiring cargo owners to prove their title to all cargo on board the ships detained in that port was in accordance with law, and that the telegram should go on to explain generally the situation in regard to the ships detained at Cape Town, and to invite the co-operation of the Commonwealth Government.

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THE FIFTH MEETING of the Committee was held at the Colonial Office on Thursday, the 3rd December, 1914, at 3.15 p.m.

The following members were present:-

VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. J. W. SLADE, K.C.I.E., K.C.V.O. (Chairman). Mr. W. J. Evans, Admiralty.

MB. G. L. BARSTOW, C.B., Treasury.

MR. G. REPER, Board of Trade. MR. H. W. Malkin, Foreign Office. MR. L. D. Wakely, India Office. MB. C. B. TENNYSON, Colonial Office. MR. T. H. HOLT, Crown Agents.

MR. R. A. WISEMAN (Secretary).

Sir Henry Johnson, of Messrs. Waltons and Company, was also present during the meeting.

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1. Schneefels.”—(a) The question of a British register for this ship was discussed. The Committee decided that it was essential that the ship should be registered as a British ship and come under the Merchant Shipping Act. Mr. Roper undertook to make inquiries at the Board of Trade as to the best method of affecting the registry.

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(b) Sir Henry Johnson made a statement to the Committee in regard to the on to America. It progress of the negotiations for moving the "Schneefels appeared that the only outstanding difficulty was that portion of the cargo to which claims had not been substantiated in the Gibraltar Prize Court, The Committee decided to recommend that a telegram should be sent to the Governor of Gibraltar, asking the Attorney-General to make an investigation to determine what propor- If this proportion tion of the unreleased cargo might possibly be enemy cargo. could be reduced to a sufficiently small figure it was thought that the Gibraltar Court might then be asked to release the whole of the cargo on bail being given by the representatives of the cargo owners to cover the proportion of doubtful cargo. Mr. Helt then described to the Committee the position which had been reached in the negotiations with Messrs. Howard Houlder and Company for taking on the